Incompetence
by TheAwesomeMe128
Summary: Carolina struggles with her failures as things fall apart around her. Story adaptation of RvB Season 10 Episode 11. Rated T for some coarse language


**Just an experiment I did a while ago using an episode from RvB**

* * *

Tucker, Simmons, and Grif all stared at Carolina's Mongoose. Tucker hesitantly spoke.

"So, uh, how do you feel?"

The Mongoose sprang to life at his words.

"I feel like running over each and every one of you." Epsilon-Church's voice projected irritatedly through the machine.

"So pretty much the same as before."

"Yeah, pretty much."

Grif turned to Simmons. "Ya know Simmons? I think I'm gonna let you call 'shotgun' on this one."

"Fuck that!" the two Reds turned and left, leaving Tucker with Church in his recently acquired vehicle form.

Epsilon's glowing blue AI form projected on the windshield, seething. "Man, this sucks!"

"What are you complaining about? You finally got your own body."

"My own body? Tucker, I'm a fucking tonka truck!"

Tucker conceded, then brightened. "Okay, yeah, but you could literally pick up chicks with this thing!" He couldn't understand why the annoyed AI was making such a big deal out of this.

"Oh, yeah, because every girl just dreams about settling down with Optimus Prime-HONK!" Church's sarcastic response was cut off as the Mongoose's horn went off, causing him to flash. He turned around to see Caboose standing behind the Mongoose.

"Caboose! Don't do that."

"Sorry," Caboose replied unapologetically.

Sarge ran up to the three. "Alright, places people! Here they come!"

"Don't forget to shout 'Surprise'!" Caboose called out.

"Caboose, shut up!" Tucker shot back, just in time for Carolina and Wash to run over to them.

"Tucker, bring Epsilon over here. I've got some questions for him." Carolina barely paused before running over to the Elephant with Wash not far behind.

"Goddammit." Tucker ran after them.

* * *

Washington inserted the data card into the Elephant's main computer, his fingers punching  
the keyboard as Carolina looked on.

"Any luck?" she called out to him.

"I think so." Wash punched a last button, and a screen displaying a string of numbers and an image  
of the artifact popped up. It looked strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Alright, data pad accepted. Looks like we're in business."

He turned to see Tucker running up behind Carolina. "So, uh, what do you need Church for?" he questioned, slightly out of breath from his jog up the dune.

"I just told you." Carolina replied shortly.

Tucker proceded hesitantly, "Oh... yeah, but I mean you could talk to me instead! Sup, girl?"

"Why on Earth would I ever want to do that?" Carolina's voice was cold. Wash didn't blame her for being annoyed at the simulation trooper, considering the whole lot of them were pretty much dead weight to her mission. Still, he had gotten used to them, even started to grudgingly like them. They rescued him and helped him start anew. Not too bad for sim troopers.

"Well, you know, we're a perfect match. We're both super good looking badass rebel loners, and we've got the same color armor! Greenish-blue," Tucker spoke brightly, attempting for the twentieth time to flirt Carolina. Like that was ever going to do anything but piss her off.

Carolina just stared at him. Wash, couldn't see her face underneath her helmet, but he could just  
imagine her expression.

"Uh, aquamarine? Turquoise? Hey, what the fuck color is this anyways?"

Wash decided to interrupt before Tucker got murdered. "Listen, it's important that we figure out what's on CT's data pad. It might be our next clue to finding the Director."

Tucker turned to face the screen. "Hey I know that thing!"

Surprised, Wash questioned him, "Wait, you recognize this artifact?"

"Hell yeah! It was the biggest pain in the ass!"

Caboose ran up behind Tucker. "Ah, it's Church! Yeah, he has lost a lot of weight."

"What?" Carolina's voice, stunned, momentarily dropped some it harshness.

Tucker turned to her. "Oh yeah, Caboose transferred Epsilon from a memory unit into that thing a  
long time ago."

"Where is it now?" Carolina's voice grew tenser with every word.

"I dunno, who cares?"

"I do." she said flatly.

Tucker sounded nervous. "Oh. Well in that case, uh, Caboose tell her where it is."

"Right. Yes. Okay. Right. Yes. I will do that...yes...right...now." Caboose also sounded  
nervous, or maybe that was just his brain failing to recall the memory. Sometimes, it was hard to  
tell.

Wash sighed. Whatever the blue soldier was going to say was most likely not going to please  
Carolina.

* * *

The three Reds watched the Blues' conversation with Carolina and Wash from a distance. Grif was glad that it wasn't him who had to deal with Carolina, pissed off as she clearly was.

"Well Sarge, you've always wanted to watch a Blue die. Looks like you're going to get your wish after all."

"Actually Grif, it's always been my wish to watch _you_ die."

Oh, right. "Oh, right."

"Yep. Every night after you boys would retire to your bunks, I would climb up to the top of the base and just wait. Hoping I would see a shooting star. So that I could wish for your violent, and unbearably painful demise." the old sergeant's voice was nostalgic. Grif wouldn't be surprised if he wiped a tear or two from his face.

"Okay, you can stop now." It wasn't like he hadn't been aware that Sarge wanted to kill him ever since they had met. But he didn't need the details.

"I even had a little jingle to go along with it."

Grif sighed. "Please don't."

Sarge started singing gruffly. "_I just wish that Grif was dead!_"

"I hate you."

To his complete shock, Simmons started singing along with him. "_Put a bullet through_-" Sarge cut off when he noticed Simmons had joined in.

"_Put a bullet through his head!_" Simmons finished the jingle, sounding almost cheerful.

"What the-? Simmons how do you know that song?!" Grif exclaimed.

Simmons, sounding immensely relieved, replied, "Oh, it's been in my dreams for years! Now it all makes sense! Oh thank God!"

"What?!" Grif's voice squeaked.

"I thought I was crazy when I woke up with that rifle in my hands!"

Sarge chuckled. "Well, ain't that the power of music!"

Grif couldn't believe it. "Simmons! Why didn't you tell me about this?!"

Simmons's tone was blasé. "Oh, shut up. It wasn't even loaded."

* * *

"How can you just leave an ancient alien artifact on the floor of a warehouse?!"

Yep. He was right.

"Okay, hold on, I mean, to be fair, you know, he had already broken it." Caboose attempted  
to appease the increasingly furious Carolina.

A beeping caught Wash's attention, and he turned his attention from the heated argument to the screen. An error message had popped up, reading: "DATA CORRUPTED END OF FILE ERROR CODE 32165206.35".

"Uh-oh, that's not right..."

Carolina read the screen. "Ugh! I can't believe we came all this way for nothing!" The frustration in her voice was painfully obvious. She spun around and ran off.

Wash sighed, facing the two Blues. "You guys are not making my life easy right now."

Tucker blatantly replied, "Do we ever?"

"Good point."

Wash ran down the slope after Carolina, catching up with her as she stopped in the shade under one of the temple structures. "So what's the plan now?"

Carolina looked off in the distance. "There's an island nearby that I want to visit. Shouldn't take more than a day or so."

Wash immediately knew what she was talking about, what she was trying to go after. "That old fortress? Carolina, I'm not sure there's a-"

"Wash. Trust me on this?" her voice was strained.

Wash hesitated, then relented, sensing her pain underneath her tough exterior. It saddened him to see her like this. "Right. You should probably listen to your instincts."

"You stay here and keep the sim troopers from causing any trouble. I won't be long."

They both ran back out to where the rest had gathered. Wash watched as Carolina drove off on the Mongoose, then turned towards the soldiers. "Alright, everyone move into the temple. It'll be getting dark soon."

"Hey, Wash, where exactly is she going?" Tucker asked him as he started off towards the temple.

Wash looked away. "She lost something ... I think she just needs some time to try and find it  
again."

* * *

York fought back a yawn. He shifted to a more comfortable position, then resumed watching the training floor. The bright lights above illuminated a single figure below. Carolina.

Again, she was up late, training as if that was her only goal, only purpose in life. And again, here he was, watching over her.

It wasn't something York was forced to do. No one had asked him to do it. But he did it anyway. He had taken it upon himself to watch over her.

Training at such late hours was not longer an uncommon sight. Ever since the last mission, at the shipyards, Carolina had thrown herself into it with such vigor and determination. Barely eating, hardly sleeping, and on edge the entire time. York was almost afraid that one day she would just drop dead. Almost. Carolina was tough, that's for sure. But she wasn't invincible.

He hadn't been there to witness what had gone down inside the control room. He had thrown himself into shutting down the power, and what with trying to fend off two Insurgents with turrets, he had been a little distracted. But from what he had seen, it had not gone well.

Carolina had been planning her route past the two Innies, when Texas showed up. York didn't mind the black armored freelancer, but every time she turned up things went to hell for Carolina. Texas had easily swept past all of them with her invisibility enhancement, even getting in a couple of punches at the Innies. Carolina immediately rushed after her, cursing, leaving the rest of them to take the fire. The next time he had seen the two, Texas had curtly informed him that CT and the Insurgent leader had gotten away, and that they were leaving immediately. Carolina had been distant, looking very tense about something. From then on, she had trained without stop.

The mission had been unsuccessful, and York knew Carolina was blaming it on herself. She always did that, taking responsibility for everything that went wrong and not realizing how much she had gotten right. She was amazing, fighting with seeming ease and caring for and leading her team better than anyone else ever could. Even now, she was improving rapidly, her efficiency and scores increasing every round she went through.

But to her, it wasn't enough. To her, she wasn't good enough. Being the best had become somewhat of an obsession to her, using her failures as motivation to drive herself to extremes. She had always been competitive, but Texas easily taking her number one position had pushed her over the edge. It wasn't like Texas did it to taunt her. York figured that Texas was just doing what came natural to her. In fact, Texas had shown great concern and unexpected caring for Carolina. But Carolina didn't see that. All she saw was someone else always there to knock her down, to take her place. Suddenly, perfection had become what she wanted the most. It was like she felt she had something to prove. To everyone. To herself.

York wished she would realize that no one could perfect. Not him, not the Director, not her. Not even Texas. And as much as she denied it, he wish she would realize that she WAS good enough. More than good enough, she was amazing. Tough and kickass as hell, yet so caring. Witty, and so beautiful. Matching him word for word, action for action, so in sync. York couldn't help but be blown away by her, something that hadn't changed since the moment he had met her. If only she saw in herself what he saw in her.

York absentmindedly touched the scars lacing his left eye. He could easily recall the incident that had caused them. Not fun, not at all. Stumbling around, dizzy. Something landing with a thud besides him. A sudden pressure on his side, then the explosion. Knocked unconscious, the last thing he could remember was the feeling of blood pouring out of his face and Carolina calling out his name. Carolina... that wasn't a good day for her. He had seen it in her eyes the moment he woke to see her face.

York yawned, stretching. Sleep pressed on his eyes, but he couldn't bring himself to rest. Carolina was still hard at work down below. He took a swig of coffee, and jumped when he felt a hand pat his shoulder.

"Still training at this hour?" North walked up next to him, a clipboard in hand.

"Yeah. She's been like this ever since we got back from the last mission."

North looked at him. "You gotta be kidding me, she's always been like this."

"Well yeah. I mean- She never did know when to stop. But now it's like she doesn't know how to stop. Always training. I guess the leaderboard beckons." York bit his lip, contemplating.

The two Freelancers looked at the board. Texas held the number one position, with Carolina below in the second. There was an even bigger board over the training room floor. York knew that it had to be messing with her head, seeing it every time she trained. Which was pretty often nowadays.

North turned from the glowing screen, giving him a knowing look. "You know you don't have to watch over her." he commented gently.

"Could say the same to you about South," York replied, giving him a quick glance out of the corner of his eye.

North had a hint of an amused smile on his face. "That's not really an answer."

York leaned back in his chair. "So what are you doing awake?"

North tapped on his clipboard, giving its contents a quick inspection. "Theta. Couldn't sleep. And if Theta can't sleep-"

York cut in, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Ah, one of the side effects they don't tell you about. Having someone else's voice in your head sure does take some time getting used to, doesn't it? Delta's always running these probabilities."

"Well that seems annoying."

York shrugged. "He says it's fun. You know, did you know, statistically, you're as likely to get hit by lightning as you are to die in a Pelican crash?"

"Seems like it would be higher considering our line of work. Guess I'm due for a few lightning bolts."

The two freelancers shared a laugh as they overheard FILSS announcing Carolina's completion of a round. Even from up on the viewing platform she looked visibly tense, despite her increase in efficiency.

"Is Theta up late often?" York asked North, not taking his eyes off of her.

"You're wondering if he gets scared a lot." North leaned against the table.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"Well, it happens. Mainly at night. He likes when I walk the halls. When we were kids, my dad would have to drive South around in the car to get her to fall asleep. It's kinda the same thing." His voice softened at the mention of his sister. Even though York knew just how hard it was to get along with South, it was very apparent that North loved her unconditionally. South didn't know how lucky she was to have him, even if according to her it was a pain in the ass being a twin.

"I wonder if they're all like this, the A.I.s. You know, jittery, nervous, no, not nervous..."

"Anxious." North easily supplied him the word.

"Yeah. Anxious. It's like Delta always thinks that something bad is always about to happen. I don't get it. What do they have to worry about?" It had been tugging on his thoughts for a while now.

"Uh, Pelican crashes, lightning strikes...Hey, maybe they know something we don't." North answered. He let out a yawn.

"Why don't you just pull him for a night? Get yourself some sleep."

"Pull Theta?"

"Yeah."

"He gets even more scared when I do that. I feel obligated to help," North seemed genuinely concerned about his kid-like AI.

York smiled. "I see why they picked you."

"Yeah..." North accepted, returning his smile.

York tilted his head. "Well, he has to face his fear at some point. If they want to be human that's a good place to start."

"What can I tell ya? I guess some things are just harder to face than others."

"Yeah." York thought about Carolina. "'Night North."

"Don't stay up too late. You need your rest." North gave him a reassuring touch on the shoulder, then walked away.

York put his feet up on the table, turning his attention to the training floor. Carolina was running through another round quickly, managing to be powerful yet so graceful. It was almost beautiful to look at. Even so, he could see her frustration. York wistfully watched her, his heart heavy.

"I think we all could use some rest."

* * *

Carolina drew back from the last holo-ring, breathing heavily. She had been training for hours. Every day, ever since the last mission. The one she had failed. She was more than tired, but she couldn't stop. Too many things to work on. Where had she gone wrong?

"Round complete. A six-point-three percent increase in efficiency that round Agent-"

"Run it again FILSS," Carolina interrupted the computer program, shaking out her hands.

"Resetting training room floor for next round..." FILSS's voice echoed through the room. Carolina fell into her starting stance, then launched herself at the spinning rings.

She needed to improve. Needed to be faster, stronger, more prepared. Nothing but the best would do. The last mission had been going fine, until Texas showed up. Of course she showed up. After all, why entrust a _priority_ mission in the hands of anyone else but the number one.

Texas. The Director's pet. Always there to overshadow her, to show that no matter what Carolina did, she wasn't good enough to be the best. And it wasn't for the lack of trying. But Texas, she was untouchable. Or so it seemed.

Carolina had her suspicions about the newest Freelancer. There was something... different about her. There were secrets she had to hide. And Carolina had seen a darker side of her back at the Shipyards. CT had made an accusing comment to her, something about a shadow. Whatever she had meant, it had pissed Texas off, more than Carolina had ever seen her. The entire fight, Texas had been merciless and cold. Carolina could still hear the dull thud of the ax sinking into CT's chest. Texas, remorseless, angrily blaming Carolina for letting the Insurgent leader and the fatally injured girl get away. It still disturbed Carolina. But it was true that it was her fault, she had let Tex distract her and failed. Again.

Carolina angrily swung a last punch at the simulation.

"Round complete."

"Run it again," Carolina spoke tightly.

"That last round showed a three-point-six increase-"

"Just run it again!"

"Resetting training room floor."

The holo-rings had barely begun spinning when Carolina attacked them, finishing the round faster than she had ever gone. Why the hell wasn't she good enough?

"Round complete."

"Run it again."

"Resetting training room floor for next round." Carolina again flew around the room. Without her bidding, her eyes started to water. She angrily tried to blink away the tears.

Everything had been perfect. She had been number one, caring for and leading her team through mission after mission, exercise after exercise the Director sent them on. Then Texas arrived, easily beating York, Maine, and Wyoming amongst everything thrown at her. Even through the live rounds that somehow made their way into Maine's and Wyoming's hands. Impressive, but Carolina would never forget what happened next. She didn't think she ever could.

York, on the ground, disoriented. Texas, dodging a grenade thrown at her. It landing right beside the dizzy tan Freelancer. Texas shooting him with her paint pistol, just before the explosion.

Carolina had rushed to the training room floor as fast as she could, calling the medics before joining her teammates. She had fallen on her knees beside him, staring with horror at the shattered window of his helmet, watching helplessly as he was carried away. After that, she had slowly started to unravel. Her strengths, her weaknesses, all started coming to light, undeniable.

Carolina, having completed the round, stood still on the floor for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Then she tensed up again, determined to do better, and called out to FILSS to reset the room. Cracking her knuckles, she readied herself.

"Hey,"

Carolina jumped, and spun around. She stopped inches away from the intruder. "York! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, as York stepped through the holo-rings, casually dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants.

He shrugged nonchalantly, a tired yet endearing smile on his face. "Nothing much, how 'bout you?"

Carolina sighed, relaxing her stance. "Training. Or at least I was before you scared the crap out of me."

York let out a soft laugh. He reached out his hand to her. "I came to get you. It's time for bed."

She turned away from him with a frustrated huff. "I'm not tired."

"Carolina, it's late and you've been throwing yourself at these simulations for hours. I'm not about to let you drop from exhaustion. Even kickass space warriors need their sleep."

Carolina angrily turned on him. "Don't you get it? I can't! I just...can't!" her voice was raised as she gestured angrily at the glowing board above them. "I failed and let down everyone down because I wasn't good enough. That's all there ever is."

The look in York's eyes was sad. "I do get it Carolina. But do you really believe that?" he spoke quietly. Carolina could tell he was upset.

She looked down, her shoulders drooping slightly. "York, sometimes I feel I don't know who I am anymore. To myself, to anyone."

York looked straight at her. "I know who you are. You're Carolina. My Carolina. The badass girl I met so long ago I can't even remember what it's like not to know her," he said honestly. "But even a badass who could totally kick my butt anytime needs to get her mind off of the leaderboard and get some sleep."

When she hesitated, he placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled sweetly at her. "Pretty please?"

Carolina sighed with defeat. "Dammit, how are you always the only one to get to me?" she said as they started walking to the door.

"Because I'm awesome, that's why," York replied, triumph in his voice.

"Why do you keep looking out for me?" she asked him, tilting her head.

"Well, I figure, if I don't look out for you, who's gonna be there to show me up on missions? Or better yet, kick my butt if I screw things up?" York casually replied in that so achingly familiar tone of his, snarky yet humorous, and always good-natured.

"You're such an ass."

"I know. FILSS, end program and shut down." he called out, punching buttons on the control panel next to the door.

"Acknowledged, Agent New York." FILSS replied. As the two Freelancers turned down the hallway, the lights in the training room shut off.

Carolina slid her helmet off of her head, feeling exhausted. Maybe York was right about needing more sleep. The Freelancer led her into the locker room and to the girls' changing room.

"What, you planning on following me in here?" Carolina tossed her words at him with a smirk.

"Nah. Unless you want me to," York shot back with a grin.

Carolina rolled her eyes, and stepped inside.

* * *

A few minutes later, Carolina came back out, finally out of her armor and in normal clothes. York put his arm on her shoulder, and led her out.

"You don't have to walk me to my room," she insisted. The exhaustion in her voice was almost tangible.

York chuckled noncommittally. "I know, but if I don't, you're just going to turn around and go right back out there again..."

Carolina snorted. "You know me too well...Thanks. For everything." She gave him that smile he loved, the one she reserved for him and no one else.

York returned her smile as they stopped outside of her room. "I'm here if you need me. We're in this together, okay? Now please, if only for me and not for yourself, get some rest."

Carolina looked him in the face, her red hair partially covering her own. She reached up and traced the scars around his broken eye. She dropped her hand, and turned away with one look at him.

"Goodnight York."

"Goodnight," York watched as she closed her door, and reluctantly walked away.

York made his way back into the Freelancer lounge, unwilling to head back to his own room. Plopping down on the couch, he stretched out.

He wished Carolina could let go of what held her so tightly, and realize she _was_ good enough, leaderboard or not. If Carolina was unable to save herself, he was going to try. No matter what it would cost him.


End file.
